“Honey! Can we try something new tonight?”
My poor husband has probably heard those words more times than he’d like to admit. And not every time works out to be pleasing, yummy, or fun. Sometimes it means an awful, terrible, disgusting dinner failure. Other times it means I am holding him down and telling him he doesn’t have a choice about dripping coconut oil up into his nasal cavity (which is very helpful, in case you were wondering)… Hey don’t judge! It was Friday night and he was complaining and saying he was sure he had a sinus infection. I can’t help but play doctor mom, especially when doctor mom is the only option. This time however, there were no complaints about my experiments.
Let me back up a little…
Your Personal Lubricant is Problematic
Those super slippery store-bought lubes are not exactly all you’ve ever dreamed of. Yes, they do what they are designed to do but that comes at a price that most women don’t know about. At one time I was one of those women. Let’s go over it all shall we?
Sugar – Lubes Dirty Little Secret
If you know much about the vagina, you will know that there is a delicate balance of yeast and bacteria (some good), and when that balance gets thrown out of whack you end up smelling like a fish and we won’t go into cottage cheese… Oops… Did I say too much?
As you are prepping for a night of fun and the lubricant comes out, the last thing on your mind is that delicate balance, or that your personal lubricant is loaded with SUGAR! And that evil sugar has a very good chance of interrupting your delicate vaginal balancing act, and the next thing you know you are running to the store to buy some over the counter medication to treat a yeast infection (If you want to know how to deal with yeast infections naturally we’ve got you covered). All because you wanted to have a little fun.
And you thought there was something wrong with you! All this time it was really your lubricant. Now, it won’t cause an infection every time, but for some women this can cause lots of issues. If your personal lubricant has anything in the ingredients like glycerin or glucose then steer clear.
Parabens… Err… Paradon’ts
Parabens are synthetic preservatives. they can be absorbed through your skin, or through the vaginal wall and can cause all kinds of trouble. Parabens cause hormone disruption by mimicking estrogen in your body, they kill vaginal flora and feed candida causing an increased chance of bacterial infections or yeast infections, they can decrease fertility, and cause cell damage. Which increases your risk of breast cancer.
Other Ickies…
Additionally, commercial personal lubricants often contain petroleum, silcone, phenoxyethanol, propylene glycol, and chlorhexidine. To find out why these ingredients are also ickies that you don’t want in your lubricant, check out our previous post on lubricant.
Introducing DIY Personal Lubricant
Let’s face it, when you live a natural lifestyle you quickly find yourself making everything… and I really mean everything. Which then causes a lot of corner cutting. Why make eye liner when you can just bust a capsule of activated charcoal open and wet your eye liner brush? Why make personal lubricant when you can just grab the nearest jar of coconut oil (yes jars of coconut oil are everywhere in my house), and use liberally?
And yes that is totally an option. I’ve done that many, many times. But sometimes that just doesn’t cut it. Coconut oil is great but it tends to need reapplication frequently and it can be a little sticky in comparison to a commercial lube. So I went on a search to develop a safe natural lube that was, well, a little more fun. In the process I discovered a world of natural lubricant options beyond coconut oil.
Possible Personal Lubricant Ingredients
Finding what is just right for you in your DIY lubricant shouldn’t take too much work. Combining your choice of ingredients may take a little work. Or you can cut corners and try our recipe or some others that we also recommend at the end of this post. As for ingredients that can generally be used safely in lubricant, here’s our list:
- coconut oil,
- pure aloe vera gel,
- olive oil,
- flax-seed oil,
- essential oils,
- vitamin E oil,
- almond oil,
- distilled water
Like everything in life there is no perfect solution. DIY lubricant recipes often don’t last as long as their commercial counterparts. Also, if you are using any kind of oil, which most recipes do, then they are not safe to use with latex condoms. Luckily there are other options and you can use polyurethane or other non-latex options instead. Or you can make a water based lubricant.
- 1/4 C. Aloe vera gel
- 1/4 C. Flax seed oil
- 5 Drops Peppermint essential oil
- 12 Drops Sensation essential oil
- Add all ingredients to glass jar or squeeze tube. Shake to combine. Keep refrigerated. Use liberally.
- Other great essential oils to try are Black pepper, Geranium, and Ylang ylang.
- To make this lubricant safe with latex you are going to have to omit everything and just use aloe vera gel.... yeah I know that isn't the same at all... Better yet, get an alternative kind of condom. You don't want to miss out on this lube.
Other Awesome Lubricant Recipes
Homemade Natural Personal Lubricant – Yogi Mama
The Personal Lubricant That Will Change Your Life! – Oh Lardy!
Like this post? Please share it by:
Pinning it here!
What’s the benefit of black pepper in this?
The black pepper gives it a warming sensation and the peppermint gives it a cooling sensation. It makes for a fun combo.
i have this 99% aloe vera gel made my lily of the desert. can i use that?
Personally, I wouldn’t. The goal is to have an all natural product, and although it is mostly aloe I would still stick to the 100% aloe.
its not gonna burn the vagina or penis??
No burning. It will be tingly but no burning. 🙂
It might actually. I wouldn’t use a lube designed to have a warming, cooling or tingling effect, pretty much ever, because that sensation is produced by actually irritating the mucus membrane. Some women can handle it, and like it, but a lot of women find these preparations incredibly disruptive to the natural balance of the vagina.
if using the other oils… Geranium, ylang ylang, black pepper how many drops of those?
A comment on the essential oils. They are supposedly natural but I react the same as I do with artificial fragrances: with an allergic reaction. Any alternatives to suggest? I’m also scared of putting anything on my vagina that came from a commercially bought bottle of aloe Vera gel: any particular brand that you are certain is safe? Thanks.
With your extra sensitivities I would just do without the oils. The recipe would lack the fun tingle, but will still work as a lube. I was also concerned about what aloe vera gel to use. The one recommended in the recipe is the best I have found. You could also extract the aloe from the plant yourself, and then blend it up.
Is there any particular reason why you chose flaxseed oil over the other oils you state are generally safe to use as well? Just wondering if any of the oils you listed could be substituted.
Thanks
The reason for choosing flax is because it doesn’t harden in the fridge and the aloe vera I use needs to be refridgerated. So, for this lube, any oil that stays in liquid form at cool temps is ok. I would not use coconut oil in other words. 😉
But coconut oil liquifies upon body temperature contact. Cosidering coconut oil is also an anti-bacterial, I’d prefer using itinstead of flaxseed since it will liquify rather quickly. It also tastes better for oral play. 🙂
I opted for flaxseed oil because it stays in liquid form at cool tempertures. The aloe vera in this recipe needs to be refridgerated so the accompanying oil needed to stay liquid. So, any oil that has a very low solidifying temp would work. I love using coconut oil in most lubes but not in this one.
Great thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.
Make sure you use 100% Natural Vitamin E. Most store bought Vitamin E in pills/supplementation is synthetic or semi-synthetic and usually derived from petroleum products.
Can you use cinnamon oil in it?
I haven’t tried using cinnamon, so I really don’t know if it would work out well or not.
Hello!
I am curious to know if you can add a few drops of vitamin E oil to preserve this and be able to keep it out of the fridge?
Great question! I don’t know the answer however. Personally I wouldn’t want to mess with it, although it would be nice to not have to keep it in the fridge.
Vitamin E is a natural preservative, as is vitamin C.
Vitamin e is not a preservative
Here is another recipe. It is WATER BASED and easy to make. It is super slippery, reslippifies if rewetted when it gets a little dry, but it doesn’t leave much residue. It freezes well, and lasts pretty long both in a bottle and during use.
1 cup water
1 tablespoon flax seed
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
I teaspoon guar gum
Put water, flaxseed, and vinegar in a pot and bring to a boil. Sprinkle the guar gum in while stirring (I sprinkle it through a sieve, it likes to clump) to avoid lumps. Boil five minutes.
You can sift out the seeds with a sieve or wait for it to cool and pour it all into a cloth and squeeze the gel through by twisting the cloth up.
Use a turkey baster or a big syringe to put the lube into small squeeze bottles.
The guar gum gives the lube more body so it stays put. The vinegar keeps it from going bad quickly and makes it a little acidic, like a vagina is supposed to be. There is no taste, but I am thinking to add a little vanilla.
Fill up a few squeeze bottles at once, then close them and put them all in a pot of boiling water for ten minutes to pasteurize them. As long as they stay closed, they don’t seem to go bad. Sometimes I freeze them too, to be extra sure.
Once they are opened, they last a couple weeks at room temperature. If it gets any smell at all, time to throw it away. It gets moldy pretty suddenly, which is gross and it stings. But it costs like 10 cents a bottle, so make more.
Genius! Thank you!
You’re welcome. Have you tried it? Any comments or suggestions? So far I am the only woman to have used it 🙂
Latex and I don’t get along well. This lube with natural lamb condoms freaked my lover out; he thought the condom had slipped off because he couldn’t feel it.
Hi, would plain rapeseed oil work without combining any other ingredients?
We really don’t support the use of rapeseed oil in or on the body. If you want ot use an oil without the effort of making a recipe I would use coconut oil.
This is awesome; so cheap and easy and just es effective as store bought (even better actually)! Thank you!
Unfortunately I forgot to keep mine in the fridge so I’ll have to make another batch as it turned watery after a little while. Won’t make that mistake again! Whoops!
Have been using a mixture of olive oil and coconut oil mixed with lavender and peppermint for years and works great
Hi, I’m allergic to aloe. Any alt for it?
Plain coconut oil works great.
Should I use the gel out of my aloe vera plant?
I haven’t tried it, but generally believe that products that are straight from the source and fresh are best.
be careful with cinnamon oil as it gets very warm. I am not a sensitive person and even I cant handle it (I have tried)